It’s now well into vacation season, so I’ll make this message brief! Thank you to everyone for making June a great month for our chapter! There were many great events, including our successful estate planning symposium, presented jointly with the CalCPA Peninsula Silicon Valley Chapter, and our installation banquet gave us the opportunity to thank our prior year’s officers for their tremendous leadership—and of course to eat wonderful culinary treats and enjoy some excellent wine!

For me, the highlight from June was the CalCPA Council meeting in Anaheim, where Conrad Davis was installed as CalCPA’s 2010-11 chair. In addition to all that was accomplished at the meeting, it gave those who attended a chance to meet with old friends. It was also great to see the extent of participation by our chapter. We had our four council seats, as well as representation from our chapter’s state committee chairs. We also had two of our chapter members—Amy Ainsworth and Ariel Cretu—selected to serve on the CalCPA Board this year. Congratulations to Amy and Ariel for accepting this statewide responsibility!

While attending the council meeting and listening to our leaders, I was reminded of a simple but effective leadership tool—“the Ask.” When speaking to a group, whether in a small team meeting or in a large audience format, it can be very useful to ask your team members to accomplish small, attainable goals. These “asks” allow the presenter’s message to be easily understood and focused upon. And because asks are distilled into a few key points, they leave the listener with the feeling that what is being asked for is achievable and can contribute to the team’s success.

Our esteemed chair, Conrad Davis, gave us several asks at council. One of them that I’d like to pass on to all chapter members is to get involved with financial literacy. Over the next several months, ask yourself what one thing you can do to be part of the financial literacy movement. Using prepared materials that CalCPA has available, these programs are much easier to deliver than you might think. Best of all, the impact of the financial literacy program is direct and immediate for those you interact with, not to mention personally rewarding and quite enjoyable.

If you would like to help with the financial literacy program, please contact Donna Bumgarner, our chapter committee chair. You also can find more information on CalCPA’s website, where you can volunteer.

If you personally know your senator or assembly member, or would like to get involved in our grassroots government relations effort, please contact Ben Mozzetti, chair of our Government Relations Committee, or chapter program associate Stephanie Stewart. We are not asking for a major time commitment—we are hoping to find members who can make an occasional visit to a district office with fellow members, take part in CPA Day in January and send one or two e-mails during the year.

Date: Friday Sept. 17
Register online.

Date: Thursday, July 15

Register online.

Over the last several years, Aberin has performed green building tax incentive studies and cost segregation for thousands of clients in various industries that range from Fortune 500 companies to individual real estate investors to hospitals, casinos, golf courses and manufacturing facilities.

Date: Tuesday, July 13
Register online.

“I have used the MAP survey for six years and have found it to be an invaluable tool I refer to over and over again to manage my practice,” says CalCPA member Eileen Pastenieks, CPA of Warmerdam CPA Group LLP. “I use the information to determine, among other things, if my wages are in line with other firms in my geographic area.”

If your firm is not yet a PCPS member, you can join for $35 per CPA (maximum $700). Nonmembers can purchase results reports for $300 (survey participants receive a $100 discount; AICPA members receive an additional $100 discount.)

The survey closes Friday, Aug. 13.

For more information, go online.

Come hear Michael Gray, CPA share insight into actions to be taken after a death and the role of the CPA.

Date: Thursday, July 15

Info: Chapter program associate Stephanie Stewart.

Register online.

There are a couple of events I would like to highlight. Candidate members, please note that Thursday, June 10 is the Emerging Professionals “Get Certified!” event. Be sure to attend for tips and advice on navigating the sometimes-tricky path from exam to final licensure. Also, our CalCPA Council meeting will take place June 24–25 in the happiest place on earth … Anaheim! Please share any of your concerns that we, as chapter officers and council representatives, can bring to CalCPA.

In May our first session of the Emerging Leadership certificate program went off without a hitch. David Veyna, former chapter president, led our young and emerging professionals in a discussion that followed a statewide webcast panel on thinking like a CEO. The feedback from participants has been excellent on this collaborative effort between CalCPA’s chapter and state-level teams.

Of course, cooperation and producing more than the sum of the parts is what being surrounded by good people is all about. Let me talk about that for a second. Say you’re a leader. You’re smart, experienced and highly skilled. But you may be tempted to surround yourself with people who can’t or won’t challenge your primacy. If you do that, you may be setting yourself up to fail.

I say, step outside of yourself. Talented people are not to be feared, but cultivated. If your team relies only on your skills and ingenuity, the team will eventually hit a wall when it needs something that you aren’t strong in. If you aren’t surrounded by talented, empowered people, you and your team may meet an insurmountable challenge.

Be brave in developing your subordinates. The better they are equipped, the more powerful your whole team can be and the more they can accomplish. And let’s not forget that when the team looks good, so do you.

“Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” — Oprah Winfrey